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Maker Interview – Jaime Costiglio

Jenn: Hi guys, I’m Jenn from House One and I’m here with Jamie from jamiecostiglio.com. Jamie, thank you so much for being with us.

Jamie: Thanks for having me.

Jenn: So Jamie is the maker builder behind jamiecostiglio.com. Can you tell us a little bit about your site?

Jamie: So I started about nine years ago. I just started with basic projects out of necessity and I just kept building on that, building on that and figuring out that I could make all these things that I wanted for my house and for my family. And it’s just taken off from there.

How did you get started?

Jamie: I had made a bench for our entryway. Just a basic bench, but it was really functional and I was thinking; “wow, like this is– it works and it works for my kids and my family and I need to do more of this.” So I just kept going. I’ve always been a creative type, like always making things—mostly sewing and crafting when I was younger. And then I just started woodworking just because I wanted some bar stools so…

Jenn: Bar stools?

Jamie: Yeah, not a good first project. I don’t recommend.

What is your favorite project?

Jamie: I do this series over the holidays called Hand-Built Holiday and I actually collaborate with Ana White and we do all kinds of small gift-size projects, some are larger, some are smaller. They’re targeted towards kids and things that you can give made out of wood, so easy things that somebody could put together in less than a week to give as a gift for the holidays.

Jenn: I love that.

Jamie: Yeah, so it’s really fun and we’ve been doing it for the past five years now. So every year we build on what we’ve done the year before and we really look forward to it.

How do you decide on your next project?

Jamie: I see stuff a lot like when you’re looking through Instagram or Pinterest and screenshot things and I just save them. You want to do your own take on it or make it fit for your house or a special tool that you’re using. I just go from there.

Is there a mindset or tool that is invaluable to you?

Jamie: I would say I started with the iter saw and a drill and that was it. That was just the basics. You can do so many projects with just basic tools. I don’t have a lot of fancy tools. I don’t have a table saw. I just use the basics and go from there. You can do a lot. And a nail gun, I mean, now, you definitely want to add a nail gun in there.

Jenn: Well, I think it’s important for people to know that even if they don’t have a dedicated workshop space, there’s still so much that you can accomplish. And all these makers that are creating amazing things, we don’t have professional spaces by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re able to be flexible and make it work.

What is your best advice for new DIY’ers?

Jamie: It’s not going to be perfect, right? It’s a little rough around the edges. But like anything, with practice, you get better and you make it how you want it to be. You figure out all the little tricks and tips. Just keep doing it, right? It takes like hundreds and hundreds of projects to make it look totally professional, exactly the way you want it, but you gotta practice.

Jenn: You gotta practice. You have to start somewhere. Absolutely.

Jamie: Yes.

What video styles or makers inspire you?

Jamie: I think a lot of our group of makers started with Ana White.

Jenn: Absolutely, yeah.

Jamie: She started the whole thing. And then from there, like all the people I’ve met over the years. Going to different conferences and seeing their style and talking about different tips in how they put things together and how they present things and how they style things. All of that together is just so inspiring. To see your friends successful and like–

Jenn: I think we all have, like you said, that different style that once we get together and we learn tricks from each other, it’s amazing how as a community, we grow–

Jamie: Right.

Jenn: –with each other. I think it’s really impressive and I think your work is incredible and we’re so thankful to have you here.

Jamie: It’s fun.

Jenn: If you guys wanna check out more of Jamie’s content you can always visit jamiecostiglio.com and you can follow her @jamiecostiglio on Instagram and Facebook. Thanks so much for being here.

Jamie: Thanks for having me.

By Jenn Largesse

Jenn Largesse is the editor and creator of House One. As the daughter of a carpenter and an english teacher, she has been honing her love for woodworking and writing her entire life. After nearly a decade as a writer and producer for This Old House, she bought her first home in rural New England and launched her blog, Build Basic.